Wednesday, 3 December 2014
History of Use of Traditional Herbal Medicines
By definition, ‘traditional’ use of herbal medicines implies substantial historical use,
and this is certainly true for many products that are available as ‘traditional herbal medicines’.
In many developing countries, a large proportion of the population relies on traditional
practitioners and their armamentarium of medicinal plants in order to meet health
care needs. Although modern medicine may exist side-by-side with such traditional
practice, herbal medicines have often maintained their popularity for historical and
cultural reasons. Such products have become more widely available commercially, especially
in developed countries. In this modern setting, ingredients are sometimes marketed
for uses that were never contemplated in the traditional healing systems from which they
emerged. An example is the use of ephedra (= Ma huang) for weight loss or athletic
performance enhancement (Shaw, 1998). While in some countries, herbal medicines are
subject to rigorous manufacturing standards, this is not so everywhere. In Germany, for
example, where herbal products are sold as ‘phytomedicines’, they are subject to the
same criteria for efficacy, safety and quality as are other drug products. In the USA, by
contrast, most herbal products in the marketplace are marketed and regulated as dietary
supplements, a product category that does not require pre-approval of products on the
basis of any of these criteria.
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol82/mono82-6A.pdf
Indiana Medical History Museum: Guide to the Medicinal Plant Garden
In this modern era of urban civilization, many of us have lost touch with nature. We no longer
have the intimate knowledge of plants and their uses that our ancestors had acquired through
centuries of trial and error. When we want a cure for our headache or fever, we go not to the
meadow and woodland but to the drugstore.
The Medicinal Plant Garden of the Indiana Medical History Museum offers the opportunity to
remember that plants were the original source of most medicines. Many of the miracle drugs of
today are molecules or variations on compounds that were originally available from plant
medicines. For example, Bayer Aspirin (acetyl-salicylic acid) had its beginnings in 1897 from a
compound that occurs naturally in the herbaceous perennial European meadowsweet.
In recent decades, in the United States people have had an increasing interest in using herbal
remedies. A wide variety of herbal preparations are available over the counter at most
pharmacies and grocery stores. It is important to treat these substances with care. Just because a
product is “natural” does not mean that it is safe. As with our modern drugs, herbal medicines
may have undesired side effects as well as potential beneficial effects. For example, an
individual taking feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) for migraine headaches may not realize that
it acts as an anticoagulant and could result in bleeding complications if surgery is needed. When
asked by the doctor, “What medicines are you taking?” one always should include any herbal
remedies or tonics taken regularly in the answer.
In this country, the efficacy and strength of commercial herbal preparations is not controlled by
governmental regulations at this time. They are considered to be food supplements rather than
drugs. The potency of herbal remedies in stores is difficult to predict. Studies even show that
some products on the market have no active ingredient present. By contrast, in Europe,
Germany’s Commission E carefully studies and makes recommendations about herbal medicines,
and products available are better standardized and regulated. Of course, the amount of active
compounds in a plant's flower, leaf, bark, or root will vary with the cultivar, the soil, the weather,
the time of year, the time in the plant’s life cycle at harvest, and the way in which the plant is
dried, preserved, and processed.
Some of the most beautiful medicinal plants are quite poisonous. Examples include foxglove
(digitalis), autumn crocus (colchicine), castor bean (ricin), mayapple (podophyllotoxin), and lily
of the valley (digitalis-like cardiac glycoside). Remember that many of the plants we have
included in this garden can be toxic if misused. Please, do not pick or eat any part of the
plants in the garden!
have the intimate knowledge of plants and their uses that our ancestors had acquired through
centuries of trial and error. When we want a cure for our headache or fever, we go not to the
meadow and woodland but to the drugstore.
The Medicinal Plant Garden of the Indiana Medical History Museum offers the opportunity to
remember that plants were the original source of most medicines. Many of the miracle drugs of
today are molecules or variations on compounds that were originally available from plant
medicines. For example, Bayer Aspirin (acetyl-salicylic acid) had its beginnings in 1897 from a
compound that occurs naturally in the herbaceous perennial European meadowsweet.
In recent decades, in the United States people have had an increasing interest in using herbal
remedies. A wide variety of herbal preparations are available over the counter at most
pharmacies and grocery stores. It is important to treat these substances with care. Just because a
product is “natural” does not mean that it is safe. As with our modern drugs, herbal medicines
may have undesired side effects as well as potential beneficial effects. For example, an
individual taking feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) for migraine headaches may not realize that
it acts as an anticoagulant and could result in bleeding complications if surgery is needed. When
asked by the doctor, “What medicines are you taking?” one always should include any herbal
remedies or tonics taken regularly in the answer.
In this country, the efficacy and strength of commercial herbal preparations is not controlled by
governmental regulations at this time. They are considered to be food supplements rather than
drugs. The potency of herbal remedies in stores is difficult to predict. Studies even show that
some products on the market have no active ingredient present. By contrast, in Europe,
Germany’s Commission E carefully studies and makes recommendations about herbal medicines,
and products available are better standardized and regulated. Of course, the amount of active
compounds in a plant's flower, leaf, bark, or root will vary with the cultivar, the soil, the weather,
the time of year, the time in the plant’s life cycle at harvest, and the way in which the plant is
dried, preserved, and processed.
Some of the most beautiful medicinal plants are quite poisonous. Examples include foxglove
(digitalis), autumn crocus (colchicine), castor bean (ricin), mayapple (podophyllotoxin), and lily
of the valley (digitalis-like cardiac glycoside). Remember that many of the plants we have
included in this garden can be toxic if misused. Please, do not pick or eat any part of the
plants in the garden!
Medicinal plants: A general review and a phytochemical and ethnopharmacological screening of the native Argentine Flora
Plants have provided man with all his needs in terms of shelter, clothing, food, flavours and fragrances as not the least, medicines. Plants have formed the basis of sophisticated Traditional Medicine (TM) systems that have been in existence for thousands of years and continue to provide mankind with new remedies. Some of the oldest known medicinal systems of the world such as Ayurveda of the Indus civilization, Arabian medicine of Mesopotamia, Chinese and Tibetan medicine of the Yellow River civilization of China and Kempo of the Japanese are all based mostly on plants. The ancient cultures are known for their systematic collection of information on herbs and their rich and well-defined herbal pharmacopoeias. Although some of the therapeutic properties attributed to plants have proven to be erroneous, medicinal plant therapy is based on the empirical findings of hundreds and thousands of years (Gurib Fakim, 2006).
According to OPS (Arias, 1999) a medicinal plant is (1) any plant used in order to relieve, prevent or cure a disease or to alter physiological and pathological process, or (2) any plant employed as a source of drugs or their precursors. A phytopharmaceutical preparation or herbal medicine is any manufactured medicine obtained exclusively from plants (aerial and non-aerial parts, juices, resins and oil), either in the crude state or as a pharmaceutical formulation (Rates, 2001).
There is ample archaeological evidence indicating that medicinal plants were regularly employed by people in prehistoric times. In several ancient cultures botanical products were ingested for biomedically curative and psychotherapeutic purposes (Halsberstein, 2005). Knowledge of medicinal plants has usually resulted from trial and error methods, and often based on speculation and superstition (Hamayun et al., 2006). The strong historic bond between plants and human health began to unwind in 1897, when Friedrich Bayer and Co. introduced synthetic acetyl salicylic acid (aspirin) to the world. Aspirin is a safer synthetic analogue of salicylic acid, an active ingredient of willow bark, and was discovered independently by residents of both the New and Old worlds as a remedy for aches and fevers (Raskin et al., 2002). Medicinal plants have contributed to humanity's health care, source of livelihood cultural traditions, and financial gains, among others (Hamilton, 2004). However, medicinal plants are constrained by procedures such as classification, identification, and characterization.
According to OPS (Arias, 1999) a medicinal plant is (1) any plant used in order to relieve, prevent or cure a disease or to alter physiological and pathological process, or (2) any plant employed as a source of drugs or their precursors. A phytopharmaceutical preparation or herbal medicine is any manufactured medicine obtained exclusively from plants (aerial and non-aerial parts, juices, resins and oil), either in the crude state or as a pharmaceutical formulation (Rates, 2001).
There is ample archaeological evidence indicating that medicinal plants were regularly employed by people in prehistoric times. In several ancient cultures botanical products were ingested for biomedically curative and psychotherapeutic purposes (Halsberstein, 2005). Knowledge of medicinal plants has usually resulted from trial and error methods, and often based on speculation and superstition (Hamayun et al., 2006). The strong historic bond between plants and human health began to unwind in 1897, when Friedrich Bayer and Co. introduced synthetic acetyl salicylic acid (aspirin) to the world. Aspirin is a safer synthetic analogue of salicylic acid, an active ingredient of willow bark, and was discovered independently by residents of both the New and Old worlds as a remedy for aches and fevers (Raskin et al., 2002). Medicinal plants have contributed to humanity's health care, source of livelihood cultural traditions, and financial gains, among others (Hamilton, 2004). However, medicinal plants are constrained by procedures such as classification, identification, and characterization.
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